Strider Squadron
Farbanti International Airport
At the same time that Talisman and Raven were intercepting an unknown ship, Strider Squadron had flown all the way to Farbanti again hoping that Fencer was still alive somewhere on the ground. As they entered the city boundaries, Trigger was hoping that there were still Oseans in control of the capital.
AIRCRAFT
Strider 1/Trigger: F-15E Strike Eagle
Strider 2/Jaeger: F-15C Eagle
Strider 3/Lanza: F-15C Eagle
Strider 4/Tailor: F-15C Eagle
'Unidentified Eagles entering Farbanti airspace, state identity and purpose or you will be subject to lethal force.' A man with an imposing voice sounded on an open radio channel. Trigger answered it.
'Strider Squadron, of the LRSSG. We're here to recover a downed wingman.' Trigger stated. He was flying his old modified F-15E. When it came to ferry duty, the F-22 was a poor performer.
'Ah, the LRSSG. Does your guy go by the callsign Fencer?' The air defence man asked, more relaxed now that he knew he was dealing with fellow Oseans.
'That's him.' Trigger said. Strider had found their guy.
'I'm granting you landing permissions at the civilian airport. He'll be waiting by the terminals.' The ADC permitted Strider to land at the international airport. 'Also, is your base still intact?'
'It is. We've come from Cape Rainy.' Trigger answered that question. There was no further reply. Trigger came in for a landing approach and landed gently on the primary runway. The Strike Eagle slowed on contact with the tarmac. Trigger taxied from the main runway to the terminal area.
As he rolled over to the big entry building, Trigger saw Fencer standing around with an Osean soldier, waiting for a pickup. He appeared to be uninjured. Fencer saw the F-15E and recognised the squadron marking. Trigger pulled up and opened the canopy for Fencer to enter. An internal ladder opened for Fencer to get in. Cyclops 3 sat down and strapped in. Trigger closed the canopy and rolled down to the runway.
'Strider 1, taking off at Runway 2-2 Left.' Trigger announced his departure to the air traffic controller. Once again he didn't get a reply. Fencer and Trigger didn't speak as they sped up down the runway and lifted up into the skies. The other three were circling the airport waiting for Trigger to meet up with them.
'Strider, we've got our guy, time to get out.' Trigger reported to Jaeger, Lanza and Tailor. Trigger rejoined the formation and together they left Farbanti. They now headed back towards Cape Rainy.
Cyclops/Razgriz Squadron
Cape Rainy
Count, Huxian and Mythic were running today's combat air patrols around the area. Mythic was supposed to be with Razgriz on their communications run, but because she was flying around with an F-35B, her ferry radius wasn't brilliant. As a result, she had combined with Cyclops.
AIRCRAFT
Cyclops 1/Count: F-15C Eagle
Cyclops 2/Huxian: F-15C Eagle
Razgriz 3/Mythic: F-35B Lightning II
Aside from a small force of F-16Cs sitting at Alert 5, they were the only aircraft available to counter any potential threats. Half an hour into their CAP, a group of unidentified transport aircraft breached the south-east corner of the air defence zone.
'Cyclops, transports detected bearing 150. Intercept.' Long Caster pointed that out. The trio moved to go chase down the unknowns. They were fairly close by when the breach was detected, so it didn't take long to get into position. Unbeknownst to them, the transports had escorts. Stealth fighters. Cyclops didn't know they were there until the flight lead of the fighters contacted them.
'F-15 Eagles, are you Osean?' The flight leader asked. Count hesitated to speak for a few seconds.
'Yeah. This is Cyclops Squadron. Who are you guys?' Count asked haphazardly.
'Merlin Squadron, of the Federation of Central Usea Air Force. We're escorting the 71st Air Defence Squadron to Cape Rainy.' The leader of the stealth fighter squadron replied. Count, Huxian and Mythic all gave each other a glance. Count shrugged. He chose to trust Merlin Leader. In the distance a group of massive C-5 Galaxy transports became visible over the horizon. There was a squad of eight surrounding the transports. Mythic leant forward in her cockpit to see what they were. Her eyes focused… F-35As.
'CTOL Lightnings. FCU paint scheme.' Mythic confirmed that they were indeed who they said they were. Despite that, she remained vigilant. Count and Huxian on the other hand were more relaxed.
'Merlin, form up and follow us. We'll lead you to the base.' Count decided, turning in a circle and indicating for the fighters and transports to follow him. 'Long Caster, the transports are friendly.'
'Copy that, Cyclops. Bring them to the base.' Long Caster confirmed what Count had said. The F-35As caught up to the F-15s and single F-35B and flew alongside them.
Razgriz 1
Mount Lambert
Blaze didn't have to go far to understand that the loss of communications had caused some serious fuckups for both Osean and Erusean forces. Flying alone, Blaze had elected to go south-east from the base to check on a regional airbase that the Marine Corps had captured a little bit before the Farbanti invasion. He had just entered the air defence zone around the base when his radar went crazy indicating that he was being locked on by a SAM site. Blaze didn't have time to contact the battery commander because he was almost instantly fired upon. Blaze went low and fast to avoid the missile. He then increased his speed to get close to the base.
Things slowly went to shit from there. Someone - Blaze assumed it was the Eruseans - had positioned ZSU-23-4s around the airfield as close-in defence. Already aware of Blaze's presence, the closest one to him quickly got a track and started firing. Cursing, Blaze ascended to get out of its effective engagement distance as green tracers chased him upwards. A couple of kilometres up, one of the base's SAM batteries fired again at him. Blaze popped chaff to throw off the missile and narrowly evaded. The ZSUs down below were still firing at him despite the fact they weren't likely to hit him. The skies around him were covered in black smoke as those shells exploded around him.
Blaze wasn't packing any air-to-ground munitions. The only solution to his problem was to bug out the way he had come from. Swiftly pulling a 180 back towards Cape Rainy, Blaze quickly left the air defence zone around the base before another missile went to chase him. Once he was out of range, Blaze loosened up. He asked himself how many more allied bases had been taken over by remnant Erusean forces.
Razgriz 2 and 3
San Salvacion
Where Blaze was narrowly avoiding death, Snow and Grimm were flying to an area still controlled by allied forces. The forces in control of the capital city of San Salvacion had come up with the same idea that the LRSSG had and were running CAP patrols all around the area. The pair figured this out when they were met by a flight of Su-27s.
'Unidentified F-14D and Typhoon FGR.4, tell your purpose or you will be fired upon.' The squad leader of the Su-27s demanded of them.
'This is Razgriz 2, callsign Swordsman, of the LRSSG. We're looking to confirm the positions and status of allied strongholds.' Snow, the senior of the two, answered the call. The pilot on the other end sounded relieved.
'Razgriz 2, standby. Osean Regional Command needs a word with you.' The squad leader told them. Snow waited while something behind the scenes was sorted out. A moment later a new voice came on via the radio.
'Razgriz Squadron, this is Brigadier-General Dylan Cook. I'm transmitting a package to you. Take these to your company commander.' The ground commander, a Marine and an aviator that Snow had worked with a few times, said. Snow looked at his data computer. It was registering that he had a .PDF file stored onboard.
'Understood sir, I'll bring these back to our base.' Snow confirmed that order and turned back for Cape Rainy. General Cook asked a question just before they left local radio range.
'Swordsman, is Blaze still around?' He asked.
'Yes, sir.' Snow replied.
'Good. Tell him to keep fighting. Say that it was from Reaper.'
